Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally is the slightly fictionalized true story of Oskar Schindler. In the lead up to the Second World War he was an industrialist who managed to own an enamel factory where he was allowed to employ Jewish workers from the Kracow ghetto. At first he stayed concentrated on actually running a working factory that just happened to employ Jews but as things started getting worse Schindler started doing everything he could to help the Jews. During the early stages this mostly meant insisting on keeping the same workers at his factory and giving them extra food while they were there. This would morph into operating a subcamp of the local concentration camp when the ghetto was demolished and transformed. There he was able to provide even more help to his Jewish workers by keeping them off of the transportation lists though he was still limited in many ways. Schindler was also contacted by Jews from outside Germany’s territory who he started smuggling information to in exchange for supplies to continue helping. As the war went on he continued helping even at the cost of his livelihood and at times at risk of his life.
Reading this book was difficult because of the content it covered, I am not going to hide that. At the same time I felt relieved to read it and know that in the midst of all that tragedy there were people who actually cared and tried to help however limited the help may be. I think this may be a bit of an extreme case here as Schindler should have followed the rest of his peers when he didn’t. It really helped to illuminate what actually happened, in many ways, because it focused on one very small portion of what was actually happening. The story stayed focused on Schindler and the Jews of the Kracow ghetto and later other locations that he helped. It didn’t really talk about the overall war or what was happening elsewhere unless it pertained directly to this group of people. On top of that it showed both the worst of humanity by depicting the ghetto and later the concentration camp but also the best by showing how Schindler and the Jews worked together to save as many as possible. The book is both incredibly sad but also incredibly motivating and uplifting because of this dichotomy. If you keep in mind it is based on true events then it only becomes more so. The one thing that surprised me was the fact the book is classified as a fictionalized version of the story. Honestly, I kept forgetting that fact because it read almost like nonfiction and there were multiple places where the author indicated that the exact events or circumstances are unknown but then explained what they think might have happened based on what they do know. It told the story but told it respectfully and it didn’t try to gloss over the events or hide the flaws of the people it was talking about. That is not something frequently seen but one that I can respect when it comes to this kind of story. Overall, an incredible if slightly dry book that gets four out of five stars from me.
This book is historical fiction that is based on a true story so if you enjoy that type of work than this might be for you. At the same time it is about WWII and the Holocaust so you might want to be careful before diving right in as that may be a difficult topic for some people. However, while the book may be difficult and cover a difficult topic that is exactly why we should read it. Sometimes you just need to be uncomfortable in order to acknowledge what has happened. The book is primarily aimed at an adult audience and I would mostly agree with that but I can also see value in it being read by older teenagers. I think anyone older than about sixteen should be fine with this book and should seriously consider reading it. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.